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Tweeting With Twitter

Welcome back. Having inundated you with Facebook facts last time, today I’m looking at Twitter. Some of you may never have used Twitter. It’s different to Facebook in that it’s much less picture based and limited to very short messages (140 characters). It is possible to cheat and create longer messages but this defeats the point of Twitter and is best treated with caution.

Don’t write Twitter off. There are many good reasons why you should use it. But don’t just sign up then forget it, like Facebook (maybe even more so) Tweets need to be frequent.

At least one report has said that Twitter followers are twice as likely as Facebook fans to make a purchase. With Twitter, everyone who chooses to can see what you write. Faccebook uses something called Edge-rank which lets it decide to hide your posts from a proportion of your followers, the more you post, the more it hides – another bad one Facebook.

Twitter responses and reactions tend to be almost immediate so be prepared.

Getting Started

Once you have signed up,fill in your bio/profile page (get in your website, Facebook, YouTube links and keywords (what words would you like people searching on google to use to find you?)).

As well as any existing friends/fans, find similar (hopefully established) bands and any other people you want to notice you. Use the search box (beware of many fake profiles – try to get the official one if possible although unofficial can also be good if they have enough followers. Click on “Follow”. Re-tweet (icon with 2 arrows, one on top of the other) at bottom of messages) things they have said and say regularly.

Don’t just follow the artists; follow their fans too (if it’s a similar artist they’re likely to like you too). But if you follow too many people in one go (especially when you’re a new user) Twitter will suspend your account so don’t go too mad on day one.

Interacting with people is better than just chatting about yourself. Reply (single arrow to left icon at bottom of messages) and re-tweet at least as much as you post, if not more. Whatever you post, make sure it’s interesting. And don’t be afraid to ask people to re-tweet it.

Search for yourself and thank people who mentioned you.

Use hashtags (#).

Keep your message shot and squeeze in a relevant (hopefully already popular) hashtag – that is a short phrase, with no spaces with a hash at the beginning e.g. “#newmusic”. People often search for hashtags and your message is more likely to be found by potential new followers if you use them.

Timing is everything

Well maybe everything is an exaggeration but, as with Facebook, Saturday is the best day for engagement. Close to the weekend is better than midweek and after 2PM is better than before. But be consistent; whether you post once an hour or once a day, maintain the schedule.

When you have something you want to promote, space the posts out by around an hour. Don’t repeat. Think of different ways of promoting it. E.g. “Doesn’t our guitarist’s haircut look awful in this video.”, “Is that outfit colorful enough for sunglasses?”, “Look at 2 minutes, 17. Can you guess what Terry is hiding?”

If tweeting so frequently sends you in to a panic, fear not. Programmes exist which will help you.

Tweet Deck and Hoot suite allow scheduling of posts

Crowdbooster will tell you best times to post in different territories (this is a big world with many different time zones). It will analyze responses and can give analysis by reaction, by territory, etc.

Numbers vs Who

Don’t just go by number of followers (although do try to get it nice and high), but focus towards who those followers are. It’s more impressive to get followed by Taylor Swift than by 1,000 nobodies (sorry – you’re all important in your own special way).

Start by following them and if you’re interesting enough and re tweet them enough they may follow back.

And it never hurts to thank new followers whoever they are (you can automate this but be careful of too generic a thank you).

Enough of me. What do you want to Tweet? Get to it! See you next time (don’t get too busy Tweeting and forget me).